• High Point falls in four sets to Presbyterian on the road; finishes weekend with 1-1 record
• Senior Chelsea Davis led the Panthers with 11 kills
• HPU returns to action on Friday (Oct. 24) at home against Campbell (7 p.m.)
CLINTON, S.C. – The High Point University volleyball team won the first set against Presbyterian College, but dropped the next three sets to fall to the Blue Hose on Saturday at the Templeton Center.
“Tonight’s match basically came down to serving and passing,” head coach Jason Oliver said. “I really felt that as well as we did on Friday night against Winthrop in serving and passing, we struggled in those areas tonight. Presbyterian is a great ball control team that plays with great consistency. It really showed tonight on their home floor.”
HPU started out strong in the 3-1 (16-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-17) loss, winning the first set thanks to a .258 attack percentage. However, the Panthers ended up hitting .085 for the match. With the win, Presbyterian College improves to 9-10 on the season and 4-3 in conference play. HPU falls to 8-12 overall and 2-5 in Big South action.
High Point committed just two attack errors in the first set en route to a 25-16 victory. The Blue Hose came back, though, utilizing an early 10-4 run to take control and even the match at a set a piece. Presbyterian led the third set 24-18 before HPU strung together six straight points to knot the score at 24-24. However, the Blue Hose got a kill and block to win the set. The fourth set was tied 4-4 before Presbyterian took five of the next six points to take the lead for good and grab the match victory.
Senior Chelsea Davis led the Panthers with 11 kills, six digs and three blocks. Freshman Haley Barnes contributed 10 kills and senior Kristin Heldt added nine kills and 14 digs as part of a balanced HPU attack. Junior Wavie Chin recorded a match-high 18 digs for High Point.
Presbyterian out-hit High Point .142 to .085 in the match, but HPU did post the edge in digs 62-55. Both teams recorded 10 blocks in the contest.
HPU return to action at the Millis Center on Friday at 7 p.m. against Campbell. The Camels lost both matches this weekend to Winthrop and Presbyterian.
“We’re going to hit the gym over fall break, get better, really work on our game and get ready for Campbell on Friday,” Oliver said. “We’re excited for the challenge that Campbell presents.”